A Dream
by WorldInvent
Summary: a moment in a dream. self sacrifice. true love. determination.


_a little background first. this piece is a one shot inspired by a lovely piece of fan art (which DA is giving me hassel right now trying to insert a link. sorry.)_

_Lebanon is my own character from another Labyrinth fanfic which I hope to be posting soon._

_it is nothing, but a moment._

* * *

Sarah felt herself sway uneasily. She felt nauseous, dizzy, disoriented, 'Down right sick,' she thought miserably. 'And cold.'

She struggled to focus her eyes. The room was dark aside from the circle of light she found herself standing in. She squinted in the darkness and she felt her head spin faster. Her lids closed and she concentrated hard, trying to regain some composure. Forcing her eyes open again, she assessed the darkness. Did something move- grey on black? Another wave of dizziness hit her with such force that she stumbled back.

Part of her just wanted to sit down on the ground. She felt her knees bend with the desire to drop, and she stumbled forward to counter balance herself.

'What in the world is going on?" she thought to herself. 'All I remember is walking into my bedroom.' She recalled the room- the four poster bed with the curtains pulled back. The fire place had been built and the light had cast beckoning shadows across the bed with its pillows and blankets. She remembered feeling so peaceful, so calm walking into that room. Jareth had yet to come up stairs- he was still down in his study.

Her stomach lurched.

She had gone to stand by the fire. The warmth of the flames was so welcoming. She had turned her back to the shadows that lingered in the corners of the room. Her back had felt cold.

'Cold,' she thought. 'But the fire was warm. I should not have been cold at all. Not like I am now.'

She was cold; cold and dizzy. The darkness bothered her. The last time she had been unexpectedly cold, Lebanon had been near. Lebanon had come in to her room. Lebanon had touched her. Her eyes darted to the darkness and she definitely saw something move. If Lebanon was here now, she was far too disoriented to fend him off. Her vision blurred and she stumbled back again. She was fainting.

He stepped into the circle of light at the same moment she fell back.

Jareth had been watching just outside the circle of light. His mind was clear and his stomach was calm. He knew where he was, how he had gotten there, and what his purpose was. He had come to protect Sarah. 'Well, protect isn't exactly right,' he mused, right before her first stumble. 'I'm here to proclaim my ownership.'

He knew had she actually heard his thoughts, it was likely she would have fumed at the word "ownership." Nobody owned Sarah- she was far too independent. He wouldn't have her any other way. But in essence he did own her. She was his wife, just as he was her husband. They belonged to each other. There were things though, things in the darkness, that did not acknowledge this ownership. He was here to demonstrate his sole claim to Sarah.

She fell against him and he held her. One arm took her waist and braced her. He felt the curve of her hips. His other hand rested on her chest, where he could feel her reckless breathing. He also felt her breasts. Her hips in one hand, her breasts in another- these were parts of her that would never be completely familiar to him; they would always be new and exciting. For a moment he relished this touch, then he proceeded to force her breathing to calm.

Sarah was beginning to feel warm again. She was being held and protected. She was still nauseous. As long as she stood in this circle of light she was going to feel sick. This place, wherever she was, was an unbalanced place. The hand on her chest sent heat into her chest and she felt her breathing calm. She inhaled deeply and smelt something so familiar; she smelt him, Jareth. He was here and he would stand with her, warming her.

Jareth pulled his eyes from her body to the surrounding darkness. His eyes narrowed and he starred intently. A form moved, black on black. His nostrils flared. His hold tightened around her frame. He glanced down at Sarah and then back to the darkness. Something was very near the edge of light. "Mine," he spat into the void.

His scent was growing faint.

Jareth mustered all of his pride. "Lebanon!" he bellowed into the darkness. "I hold you accountable for crimes against a fellow fae! You have broken the boundaries of your banishment and have tampered with the Realm of Dreams. I accuse you of these crimes and I will hold you accountable!" Her breathing was shallow again. "Dare you break the right to claim a wife? Dare you break the bonds of a Union?"

He looked down at her. "Stay with me Sarah. You are mine!" He said it sternly. "Just I am yours! You know it. Fight the coldness! It's the only way."

His arms were still around her, she felt his body pressing against her back. Oddly her back was warm and her front was growing chill. 'Not again,' was her absent thought, as she inhaled one of the deepest breaths she had ever taken. His scent filled her lungs. It then ran through her limbs, her whole body, and she exhaled slowly. His hands flexed around her. She was warm. With him she would always be warm.

"You are mine," she said softly.

Sarah felt her eyes flutter open. She was expecting the circle of light and the blackness. Instead she saw red. The color stretched out and then blended into a mixture of soft shadows and sun light. She blinked. The red was her pillow. Turning her head she realized that the soft shadows and light were from the balcony, where light was playing around the curtains. She inhaled and was comforted to know that his scent was still with her. Turning her head she settled and closed her eyes.

Jareth had felt her move her head. She had been laying in the crock of his arm, her head under his chin. One of his arms lay across her waist while the other rested against her right breast. This is how they had laid for most of the night. He had waited for the dream to come and then he entered to be with her. He only hoped that Lebanon had taken his threats seriously- he would hold him accountable. By all the powers that be, he would see to that. "You are mine." He kissed her head through her mass of tangled dark hair.  
She titled her face up, her eyes searching his face. She had heard his thoughts; she understood what had happened. "You are mine." She kissed his lips.


End file.
